Silk RoadDunHuang [Tun-Huang] Grottoes

Thousand Buddha Cave [Chien-fo-tung] -

DunHuang is the name of the city. It is located between Urumgi and Yumen.
It was an oasis irrigated by the Tang River and began to serve as an
important way staion on the main trade route between China and Central Asia since
the first century B.C. when Emporor Han Wu-ti started to expand the
empire westwards.

This was an area where many races lived together. Chinese (in
the ethnic sense), Mongols, Uighurs, Tibetans, Hsia, and others resided
here. In he mountains nearby, Buddhist
cave-shrines began to be constructed from 366 A.D., in which scriptures
were stored, and wall paintings and sculptures were created and
maintained.

Dunhuang, at 42N, is at approximately the same latitude as the cities of
Boston, Rome, and Bacelona.